It was a packed and excited house at Castle Heights Elementary last Thursday as the crowd waited to hear who had won this year's Arch Coal Achievement Awards.

On hand to honor the five teachers was Paul Lang, senior vice president of operations for Arch Coal, Inc.; Gene DiClaudio, president of Arch Western Bituminous Group; Wess Sorenson, general manager of Skyline mine; Ken May general manager of Sufco mine; Erwin Sass, general manager of Dugout mine; Dixie Allen, from the Utah State Board of Education and Jim Porter, High Desert UniServ.

Before the presentation the students were given a little course in being the most enthusiastic audience ever. They were shown the sign for cheering and the other one for standing up and letting loose.

Castle Heights student body turned out to be quick learners.Their enthusiasm was deafening as Gail Jewell from Wellington, Renae Seegmiller representing Salina, J. Edward Staker of Mt. Pleasant and Diane Hill from Gunnison took the stage accepting their glass trophies.

However, no prompting was needed when the final teacher stepped up for her award. When the children heard their very own Connie Hamilton had won they went crazy without being encouraged to do so.

In addition to their trophy, the teachers also received $2,500 and a classroom plaque.

In its second year the Arch Coal program asks the public to nominate excellent teachers and then those nominations are judged by other teachers.

"I believe that the recipients are models for their colleagues but even more than that I feel they model a way of life that their students can emulate and find success of their own," said Porter in a press release.

Arch Coal's Canyon Fuel Co. is Utah's largest coal producer and has a workforce of 800.